


An UNDERTALE With No Frisk

by Mark432



Series: The Saga of Humans and Monsters [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boredom, Gen, Slice of Life, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mark432/pseuds/Mark432
Summary: Everyone knows the meta twist of Undertale. Frisk acts as a convenient vessel for the Player, which also means that the monsters of Mount Ebott have a convenient scapegoat for all their troubles. But what if there was no eighth fallen human, and no Player to blame?
Series: The Saga of Humans and Monsters [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072622
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	An UNDERTALE With No Frisk

Lurking behind an ancient stone pillar, Flowey the Flower realized that he was completely bored out of his mind.

He was a soulless being who was incapable of feeling emotions. Well, according to him, but why would anyone ask such a personal question of a person who would abuse time travel just to repeatedly stab some random shmuck with a rusty knife while cackling maniacally until he lost interest?

In any case, Flowey was hardly surprised when Toriel walked past him, heading straight for the flowerbed where Flowey's long-dead human sibling was buried.

As the elderly goat woman knelt down amidst the flowers and started her typical routine of fussing over trivial matters, Flowey couldn't help but feel a few negative emotions.

He felt irritated, because Toriel was wasting her time on a meaningless flowerbed that had literally no purpose. It might have been useful if another human child had fallen into the mountain today, but that simply did not happen. And so, the flowerbed just sat there, as nothing more than a waste of space.

He felt jealous, because despite the fact that Toriel had hardened her heart after losing her two children and cutting ties with her husband, he knew that she still had a small sliver of positive emotions within her somewhat shriveled-up soul.

He felt bitter, because he could still clearly and painfully recall the happiest days of his life, back when his parents were still happily married, and when he had both a sibling and a body with arms and legs.

And he felt lonely, because he had run of ways to keep himself distracted from his soulless existence.

Thus, Flowey settled for slouching in the dirt because there was simply nothing left for him to do, as no human child had fallen into the Underground today.

* * *

After tending to the flowerbed where her child was buried, Toriel briskly walked through the Ruins until she made it back to the safety of her cottage.

The goat woman pondered what to do for the rest of the afternoon, for she had already taken care of the groceries.

Toriel decided to make some pie, as baking was a such a familiar activity that she could probably accomplish it while blindfolded.

She began to deliberate over whether or not to focus on adding butterscotch or cinnamon to today's recipe, but then she realized that there was no point in asking that question, because her famous butterscotch-cinnamon pie was reserved for special occasions, such as whenever a human child fell into the Ruins.

Toriel vigorously shook her head and settled for making some snail pie, as that particular recipe had no variations that could make her hesitate.

As she began to prepare the pie ingredients, Toriel's mind began to drift to more… uncomfortable subjects.

A long time ago, humans and monsters used to live in peace, but the two species eventually went to war over the issue of human souls, which monsters could absorb to gain god-like power. The humans won, and the monsters were sealed beneath Mount Ebott.

The monsters were devoid of hope for some time, but then, a young human child fell into the Underground.

The human child was taken in by Toriel and her husband, Asgore. Under their loving care, the child became close friends with Asriel, the son of Toriel and Asgore.

One day, the human child mysteriously fell ill, and Asriel absorbed their soul and carried their body through the Barrier, where he was fatally injured by humans.

Asgore declared war on humanity due to rage and grief, and Toriel immediately left the capitol in protest, ignoring the own grief that resulted from the loss of her two children.

Asgore's anger faded with time, so why did Toriel choose to remain in the Ruins?

The answer was simple.

If she had gone back to New Home, she would have had to admit that the deaths of Asriel and Chara were out of her husband's control, but she couldn't find it within herself to do it.

If she had, she might have begun to wonder if their deaths were out of her control, as well.

And so, Toriel stubbornly remained in the Ruins as the years went by, tending to flowers and baking pies.

She clung to her pride as six more human children fell into the Ruins, came across Toriel, and left the Ruins only to be slaughtered by Asgore, one by one.

As Toriel finished mixing the ingredients together, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she should have been baking this pie for two people, and not one.

But then the feeling faded because no human child had fallen today.

Placing the pie into the oven, and beginning the baking process with her fire magic, Toriel reaffirmed her resolve.

Asgore was to blame for all of the suffering in the Underground.

He allowed her beloved children to die. He foolishly declared war on humanity. He murdered six innocent human children for his stupid plan.

And for that, Toriel would remain vigilant over the Ruins, in order to protect any human children who might fall into the Underground.

But as she watched the pie crust turn a deep, golden brown, Toriel couldn't help but wish she had some Golden Flower tea to quench her thirst.

She was never very good at brewing tea.

* * *

Leaning against a tall tree in the middle of Snowdin Forest, Sans the Skeleton kept a silent vigil.

His eyes were closed, and even if they weren't, he would have had to walk around the thick tree trunk to get a clear view of the road that lead to the big, creepy door that was always locked with some really powerful magic.

Instead, Sans preferred to use his sense of hearing to aid in his sentry work, as good listening is a helpful skill for keeping track of a wayward human child.

Hypothetically speaking… because Sans had obviously never met a human child before.

Hearing some brisk footsteps along the road, Sans yawned and open his eyes to meet the gaze of his younger brother, Papyrus.

"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR HUMANS!" said Papyrus.

"i am on the lookout, papyrus. i haven't seen any humans." Sans shrugged.

Papyrus looked slightly bummed out, so Sans tried to think of something that would cheer his brother up.

"hey, cheer up, bro. don't you have cooking lessons with undyne today?"

"WELL, YES, BUT I WAS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT A HUMAN WOULD SHOW UP TODAY! I EVEN SPENT HOURS CHECKING ON ALL OF THE TRAPS JUST TO PREPARE FOR THEIR ARRIVAL!" Papyrus huffed in annoyance. "I WAS HOPING THAT I WOULD GET A CHANCE TO IMPRESS HER WITH MY TOP-NOTCH HUMAN CAPTURING SKILLS! NOW, I'LL HAVE TO SETTLE FOR BRING HER A DOG TREAT FOR OUR DAILY FRIENDSHIP PRESENT."

This made Sans pause for a moment.

"why'd you think that a human would show up today, papyrus?"

"WELL, I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT MY INTUITION IS COMPLETELY RELIABLE, NYEH HEH HEH… BUT TRUTHFULLY, I JUST USED A COIN TOSS AND GUESSED HEADS."

"ah, that makes sense." Sans sighed.

As he listened to his brother chatter about all the fun activities he had planned for the day, Sans considered what to do about the Anomaly.

Sans was perfectly aware that some… thing… was making the timeline fluctuate, and if it weren't for his leftover recording devices, Sans would have never learned of its existence.

Considering all of the nightmares and panic attacks that the former physicist had experienced, Sans had begun to regard his knowledge as more of a curse than a blessing.

Sans was almost certain that something important was supposed to happen today.

Given the nature of the Anomaly, Sans was secretly prepared for some eldritch being to show up and kill all of his friends and family for some unknown reason.

And yet, this day was shaping up to be completely ordinary.

No human had come through the old lady's door, and his brother was keeping himself busy as best he could. Sans's fellow monsters were all doing the same.

Everything had turned out okay.

And so, Sans shrugged and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, merely choosing to walk with Papyrus and indulge his carefree nature instead of taking a shortcut to Grillby's.

Sans the Skeleton enjoyed having nothing important to do.

* * *

Lying face down on her bed, Undyne ignored the sound of knocking at her front door.

"HELLO, UNDYNE? ARE YOU AVALIBABLE?"

Undyne grumbled in annoyance and tried to blot out the sound of Papyrus's voice.

"ERR… UNDYNE, ARE YOU FEELING ALL RIGHT? THIS IS USUALLY THE PART WHERE YOU COME OUT AND GREET ME WITH A BIG SMILE."

"Go away, Papyrus!" Undyne yelled.

"…THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE THE UNDYNE I KNOW. THE UNDYNE I KNOW IS ALWAYS HAPPY FOR OUR ROUTINE COOKING LESSONS!"

"Grrrrrr…" Undyne grumbled, before dragging herself out of bed and slamming her bedroom door open to reveal Papyrus, who had let himself into her house.

"HELLO AGAIN, UNDYNE! … DO YOU NEED A MOMENT TO GET DRESSED?" Papyrus helpfully asked, seeing that Undyne was only wearing shorts and a rather loose shirt instead of her usual getup.

"Why? There's no point to it." Undyne complained, falling back on her bed and glaring up at the ceiling.

"ERR… WHILE I CAN CERTAINLY APPRECIATE WANTING TO GO ABOUT YOUR DAY WITH THE BARE MINIMUM OF CLOTHING REQUIRED FOR PUBLIC DECENCY, I FAIL TO SEE-"

"Oh, my GOD, Papyrus, that's not the point! I'm just really, really BORED!" Undyne complained.

"WHY?"

"Because I was really hoping for a chance to fight a human and get the last soul so Asgore can break the Barrier! I spent hours practicing my heroic speech because you said that a human would show up today!" Undyne moaned, giving her friend the evil eye.

"WELL… SANS ALWAYS TELLS ME THAT I SHOULD ALWAYS TRUST MY INTUITION. AND BESIDES-"

Undyne buried her head in her pillow again.

While she certainly appreciated Papyrus's enthusiasm on her good days, there were times when she wished that her friend would have the tact needed to understand that she just wanted to mope for the rest of the afternoon.

After all, if there was no heinous human around to fight, then what purpose would there be for a heroine like herself?

A true heroine is worth nothing with a villain to beat up, after all.

* * *

Alphys stepped out of the bathroom (which was totally not a secret elevator that lead to a hidden lab that housed all of her horrific failures) … and sighed.

Alphys had heard rumors that a human child had fallen into the Underground, but a quick check of her security cameras had disproven such mutterings.

The lizard scientist had taken care of all her daily tasks.

She had sent a cheerful letter to the King stating that everything was fine and that there was no need for him to trouble himself with her work.

She had fed the Amalgamates while promising that they could go home to their families soon.

She had ignored all of the angry letters from said families, because there was no point to opening any of them.

She had tried to do some more work on Mettaton's robot body, only to get sweaty and nervous when the ghost monster had inquired as to how long the upgrades would take for her to complete.

And she had spent the last few hours texting with Undyne on the UnderNet, chatting about the weather and what they both planned on having for dinner (Papyrus's mediocre spaghetti and instant ramen, respectively.)

Alphys took a seat at her computer and wondered what she could do before supper.

If a human child had walked into Hotland today, she probably could have arranged a fun little adventure with Mettaton's help, one that would allow her to befriend the human and convince them to… not… fight… Asgore?

Upon reflection, Alphys realized that that was a rather questionable plan.

Oh, well. There was no point mulling over it now.

Alphys grabbed a cup of instant noodles and started boiling a kettle of water, somewhat content with her quiet life of mediocrity.

* * *

Asgore sat at his bedroom desk, pondering what to write in his daily journal.

The King hadn't done anything special today.

He had taken the time to water his beloved flowers.

He had waited on his throne while sipping some Golden Flower tea in case any of his subjects had a concern with him, but nobody showed up.

He had wasted the whole afternoon trying to figure out Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pie recipe, to no avail.

Asgore finally settled for writing, "Nice day today!"

And it was a very nice day, too.

No human children had fallen down into the Underground, so there was no need for Asgore to subjugate himself to yet another ethical dilemma, even though he had made the same exact choice when six human children had made their way to New Home.

He killed the children and took their souls, but instead of absorbing them, he hid them away because he didn't want to go to war with humanity, but he was too afraid to say this out loud to his subjects.

Asgore was too cowardly to follow through with his plan or call it off, so he decided to sit on his throne… and wait for a miracle that would never come.

* * *

And so, another day passed in the Underground.

The monsters went about their boring lives, having ventured nothing and gained nothing in return.

Nobody lost any fights, but nobody won any fights, either.

No one was in danger of dying… but would you truly call that living?


End file.
